Ahoy mates. I'm here today with an important message from the Department of the Black Spot:

Don't cheat.

Historically, we haven't made much of a public spectacle out of the folks we catch breaking the rules, which has given some people the impression that we aren't doing anything about those abusing the system. I'm here today to help correct that.

Don't cheat.

Don't cheat because you think you'll get away with it.Don't cheat because you just want to try it once.Don't cheat because you think everyone else is doing it.Don't cheat because you think you'll test something and then give it to us.

Cheating, in this context, refers to any software that either manipulates or automates the normal game play of Puzzle Pirates. Or, to quote our Terms of Service 6.13: "[You agree not to do any of the following prohibited actions:] modify any files or use any game hacking/altering/cheating software or tools, including scripting or macroing software, or attempt to disassemble the game client and/or decipher the data transmissions between Yohoho!'s client and server. These activities will result in immediate termination of the Player's Account and may subject you to civil and/or criminal liability."

We have many different ways to detect cheating, and continue to monitor the game and improve them. Don't cheat.

In the weeks to come, we will be providing some statistics to help demonstrate that we are well aware of naughtiness that's occurring and are working to remedy it. To that end, I'm announcing that today we have made strides in the detection of bilge botting, and have just banned 456 accounts for such behavior. This hopefully sends a strong message to convince those that were not caught yet to play by the rules.

If you encounter a player you suspect to be cheating, please do submit a complaint about them, explaining why you believe they are cheating, and we will investigate.

Please be aware that for privacy reasons, we cannot provide feedback about actions taken against specific players, and due to the sometimes fairly complex examinations necessary, any action taken may not be immediate.

As many of you have discovered first hand, we're still watching. Yesterday's mass banning of bilge botters was not an isolated incident, and earlier today we banned another batch of players for naughty behavior.

Don't cheat.

As I said in the previous post, we are constantly watching for things such as this and will ban people for it. Don't cheat, and everyone can have a fair and enjoyable experience with the game.

And once more with feeling, in case I've been ambiguous on this point: Don't cheat.

Our efforts to improve enforcement of the rules against cheating continue - we recently discovered and corrected a flaw in our detection mechanism for bilge botters and have restored 78 accounts. We apologize to anyone adversely affected by this error; we strive to provide a fair gameplay environment, but have no intention to punish those who are innocent.

Obviously that first first number is a bit impressive, but must be taken with a grain of salt: many bad eggs keep banging their heads against the same wall resulting in many banned accounts for one person.

That said, my point here is to once again raise awareness that we're always watching for naughty behavior.

We continue to detect and ban offending accounts, so please remember: Don't cheat. We are quite fond of ye (well, most of ye anyway ), and we'd hate to see yer pirates taken away in shackles and all yer treasures donated to the Imperial Shelter for the Wayward Pets of Banned Pirates.

First: All of the above remains true! Don't cheat! You will get caught and banned, and we don't want to have to ban you, and you don't want to get banned.

Second: Please note that our Terms of Service disallow the use of any sort of macros as well. This includes, but isn't limited to things like "keep-alive" software that prevents idling out, so-called "LSM"-bots in battle navigation and any macro software in general if used while playing any puzzle.

To avoid getting into trouble, please play by the rules!
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last edit by Endymion at Jan 26, 2015 9:24:25 AM]